By admin Two hundred soldiers from Fort Bragg are being deployed to the Pacific Northwest to help fight the region’s growing number of uncontrolled wildfires, the U.S. Army says.
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The deployment is being done at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center and will include soldiers who completed wildland firefighter training with the U.S. Forest Service in July, officials said.
“The soldiers will serve as hand crews, constructing fire lines and conducting line-holding actions under the direct guidance of experienced civilian wildland fire crew bosses,” the Army said in an Aug. 4 release.
“Unprecedented wildfires” are burning across the Pacific Northwest, and have engulfed the region in “toxic gases and fine particulate matter that are harmful to human health,” according to NASA.
“Wildfires have been prevalent in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia since mid-July due to abnormally hot and dry conditions,” NASA reported Aug. 6.
“The entire state of Oregon and nearly all of Washington were under moderate to extreme drought conditions, which primed the land surface for dangerous fire weather conditions.”
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The National Interagency Fire Center reported Monday that there are 46 uncontained large fires in the Northwest, including some “exhibiting extreme fire behavior, with evacuations, road closures and threats to homes and critical infrastructure.”
An interagency agreement created in 1975 allows for service members and military aircraft to be deployed to fight wildfires.
“Our soldiers are well-trained and ready to respond quickly and effectively to assist in protecting people, property, and public lands,” Brig. Gen. Jerry E. Baird, Jr. of the Western Hemisphere Command said in a news release.
Fort Bragg is about a 70-mile drive southwest from downtown Raleigh and is home to 48,775 active-duty soldiers.
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